Nicolas Cage May Face Off Against His ’90s Self In A New Super Meta Movie
Nic Cage is in talks to star as a version of himself in new meta movie 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent'.
Nicolas Cage is apparently in talks to star as a version of himself in a brand new movie called The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Production company Lionsgate is in final negotiations to pick up the flick.
The film is co-written by and directed by Tom Gorbican, who created Ghosted, a short-lived paranormal comedy series starring Adam Scott and Craig Robinson. It’s also co-written by Kevin Etten (Workaholics, Scrubs).
Nic Cage talking to his manager about playing himself in a film: pic.twitter.com/SVsXliHNLo
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 15, 2019
In it, Cage stars as a version of himself, who is trying to score a role in a new Tarantino feature, as he tries to mend his troubled relationship with his teenage daughter. (The real Nicolas Cage does not have a daughter). At the same time, his ’90s self keeps popping up to berate him “for making too many crappy movies and for not being a star anymore”.
To try to ease his mounting debts, Cage appears at the birthday of a Mexican billionaire – who is actually a drug cartel kingpin under investigation by the CIA. He also wants to work on a film script with Cage, which itself starts to mirror the events of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. There is SO MUCH going on here.
The plot apparently explicitly references Cage’s career, including his moody turn in Leaving Las Vegas, his action star moment in Gone in 60 Seconds and his role as John-Travolta-trapped-in-Nic-Cage’s-body in Face/Off.
To get Cage to come on board, Gormican apparently wrote to the actor, explaining that the story isn’t meant to make fun of him. Rather it’s a “love letter to the actor”.
The best part about this story is that the script was written as a sample script as a way for Gormican and Etten to get work – it was never intended to be made into a film. It’s just that people though it had legs…
It’s probably safe to expect at least one patented Nicolas Cage freakout: